“Completing my Gold Award taught me a lot about leadership. I was able to talk to people a lot older than me with confidence, knowing that I was doing something important.” – Abigail

The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio would like to congratulate Abigail Sanford, 16, of the Low Desert on completing her Gold Award.

For her project, “Skills On Wheels,” Abigail partnered with the California Highway Patrol to create a safety brochure, website and video on proper vehicle maintenance

“Safety has always been very important to me. I used my Gold Award project as an opportunity to teach other people how to be safe with their cars. It’s amazing how many drivers in our community don’t know how to do emergency repairs on their cars,” said Abigail.

Her safety brochure will be passed out during the CHP’s Start Smart Safe Driving course. Inside, a link to her safety video is provided. You can view her automobile checklist and safety video at www.goldaward.info.

The Gold Award is the highest, most prestigious honor in Girl Scouting. To qualify, Abigail had to commit a minimum 80 personal hours to her project, as well as having completed 200 hours of community service in her community while in high school.

Abigail said, “Completing my Gold Award taught me a lot about leadership. I was able to talk to people a lot older than me with confidence, knowing that I was doing something important.”

Having completed her Gold Award at a young age, Abigail still plans to continue Girl Scouting full-time until she graduates.

“This year I applied to be a national delegate and hope to go to the national convention. It’s another exciting door to step through. I also plan to continue to be apart of the Girl Scouting world by helping my younger sisters complete their own Gold Awards. These are my future goals for the next two years,” said Abigail.

Abigail, a ten-year Girl Scout, is also busy with her AP and Honors classes in high school. When she’s not in class, her extracurricular activities include scuba diving, National Cherry League, astronomy and archery.